Analysis Of Margaret Atwood s The Penelopiad - 869 Words

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author and poet. She is the author of more than forty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays (margareatwood.ca) and is very popular in the feminist community due to her novels focusing on women’s culture and viewpoint. The Penelopiad is a novel written by Atwood that tells the myth of the famous Greek king Odysseus from his wife Penelope’s point of view. The reader-response theory is the best way to interpret this novel. This theory is a form of literary criticism that depends on the reader’s response to the text. Each reader will have a similar but slightly different experience from the text. This novel contains experiences most can relate to or will relate to in their future and receive a lesson from it. Perspective is very important in this novel. How it is interpreted is dependent upon who is reading it. There is not a single meaning to this novel but many. As a child, Penelope’s father had attempted to drown her bu t she was saved by ducks and was ultimately nicknamed Duck by her family. Afterwards, her father became overly affectionate towards her seemingly out of guilt. Her mother was very absent-minded and not consistently proactive in her life. Many people have had issues from or in their childhood. Many have also had traumatic experiences as a child and understanding why these things happened is rare and this often permanently affects lives. Penelope was described as intelligent instead of beautiful while her cousin, Helen, wasShow MoreRelatedA Feminist Novel The Penelopiad By Margaret Atwood Essay1183 Words   |  5 Pages‘The Penelopiad’ is a novella by Margaret Atwood, published in 2005 in the Canongate Myth Series where contemporary authors rewrite ancient myths. Atwood often portrays female characters dominated and oppressed by patriarchy in her novels. Atwood believes that the feminist label can only be applied to writers who consciously work within the framework of the feminist movement. The novella s central themes include the effects of story-telling perspectives, double standards between the sexes and theRead MoreThemes Of Penelope s Heroism1892 Words   |  8 Pages Themes of Penelope’s Heroism in The Penelopaid The Penelopaid is a novella which was written by author Margaret Atwood and published in 2005. It is a contemporary perspective narrated by Penelope, the wife of Odysseus and is an extension of Homer s The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, the descriptions of the women and their lives is written from a masculine perspective, and does not relay the true depth of the female characters role, especially not Penelope. The Penelopaid however, tells the story from